# ivcc (Project)

**[ivcc](https://github.com/yanevskiv/ivcc)** is a project I built to compile C programs and follow them through assembly, linking, and execution. It's a C99 compiler toolchain for x86-64, written in C. The project includes the `ivcc` compiler driver, `ivas` assembler, `ivar` archiver, `ivld` linker, and `ivemu` emulator.

The compiler preprocesses source files, parses declarations and expressions into an **abstract syntax tree**, performs semantic analysis, and generates x86-64 code. It can stop after preprocessing, write AT&T assembly text, produce a relocatable ELF object, or link a static executable. The assembler, archiver, and linker are also available as separate tools, so the intermediate stages can be inspected and used independently.

The project provides startup code, a C standard library, and a mathematics library. Linux is the default runtime target. Programs can run natively on x86-64 Linux or under the emulator, which loads executable files and implements instruction execution and selected Linux system calls. A separate `ivemu` runtime target uses the emulator's memory-mapped devices.

For example, this program uses the project's standard library to print a greeting:

```c
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    puts("Hello from ivcc!");
    return 0;
}
```

After building the toolchain with `make`, compile `hello.c` and run it on x86-64 Linux:

```bash
$ build/bin/ivcc hello.c -o hello
$ ./hello
Hello from ivcc!
```

The same executable can be run with `build/bin/ivemu hello`. Tests exercise several paths through the tools, including assembly output, archives, linking, and emulated execution. They also check diagnostics, language features, libraries, and compatibility with GNU tools.

## Concepts

- [[ivcc-compiler-driver|Compiler driver]]
  - [[ivcc-compilation-pipeline|Compilation pipeline]]
  - [[ivcc-compilation-modes|Compilation modes]]
  - [[ivcc-runtime-targets|Runtime targets]]
  - [[ivcc-dependency-generation|Dependency generation]]
- [[ivcc-preprocessing|Preprocessing]]
  - [[ivcc-macro-expansion|Macro expansion]]
  - [[ivcc-header-inclusion|Header inclusion]]
  - [[ivcc-conditional-compilation|Conditional compilation]]
- [[ivcc-compiler-frontend|Compiler frontend]]
  - [[ivcc-lexical-analysis|Lexical analysis]]
  - [[ivcc-parsing|Parsing]]
  - [[ivcc-abstract-syntax-tree|Abstract syntax tree]]
  - [[ivcc-semantic-analysis|Semantic analysis]]
    - [[ivcc-name-resolution|Name resolution]]
    - [[ivcc-type-checking|Type checking]]
    - [[ivcc-constant-expressions|Constant expressions]]
    - [[ivcc-data-layout|Data layout]]
- [[ivcc-code-generation|Code generation]]
  - [[ivcc-stack-frames|Stack frames]]
  - [[ivcc-calling-convention|Calling convention]]
    - [[ivcc-argument-passing|Argument passing]]
    - [[ivcc-return-values|Return values]]
    - [[ivcc-variadic-arguments|Variadic arguments]]
  - [[ivcc-control-flow|Control flow]]
  - [[ivcc-floating-point-operations|Floating-point operations]]
- [[ivcc-assembler|Assembler]]
  - [[ivcc-assembly-syntax|Assembly syntax]]
  - [[ivcc-instruction-encoding|Instruction encoding]]
  - [[ivcc-labels|Labels]]
- [[ivcc-elf-files|ELF files]]
  - [[ivcc-sections|Sections]]
  - [[ivcc-symbols|Symbols]]
  - [[ivcc-relocations|Relocations]]
- [[ivcc-linker|Linker]]
  - [[ivcc-symbol-resolution|Symbol resolution]]
  - [[ivcc-section-placement|Section placement]]
  - [[ivcc-static-linking|Static linking]]
  - [[ivcc-relocatable-linking|Relocatable linking]]
- [[ivcc-archiver|Archiver]]
  - [[ivcc-static-libraries|Static libraries]]
  - [[ivcc-archive-member-selection|Archive member selection]]
- [[ivcc-runtime|Runtime]]
  - [[ivcc-program-startup|Program startup]]
  - [[ivcc-system-calls|System calls]]
  - [[ivcc-c-standard-library|C standard library]]
  - [[ivcc-mathematics-library|Mathematics library]]
- [[ivcc-emulator|Emulator]]
  - [[ivcc-instruction-execution|Instruction execution]]
  - [[ivcc-program-loading|Program loading]]
  - [[ivcc-memory-mapped-devices|Memory-mapped devices]]
  - [[ivcc-linux-syscall-emulation|Linux syscall emulation]]
  - [[ivcc-signal-delivery|Signal delivery]]
  - [[ivcc-instruction-tracing|Instruction tracing]]
- [[ivcc-testing|Testing]]
  - [[ivcc-toolchain-pipelines|Toolchain pipelines]]
  - [[ivcc-diagnostic-tests|Diagnostic tests]]
  - [[ivcc-regression-tests|Regression tests]]
  - [[ivcc-compatibility-checks|Compatibility checks]]